A slip and fall accident, which is sometimes called a “trip and fall accident” or “slip, trip and fall accident,” is one of the most common reasons for filing a personal injury claim in Philadelphia. At The Reiff Law Firm, our experienced Philadelphia slip and fall lawyers have personally handled many of these cases, which can arise whenever falls occur on unsafe or defective properties. In this article, our Pennsylvania injury attorneys will take a closer look at some common factors that cause accidental falls, such as icy conditions, slippery floors, and other hazards. If you or a loved one was recently hurt due to falling on another person’s property, or falling while you were visiting a store or business, we urge you to contact us for a free consultation to find out whether you could have a claim. Back injuries are common in slip and fall cases, so you should seek out want a Philadelphia back injury lawyer to help you.
4 Common Types of Slip and Fall Injury Cases: Could You Have a Claim?
You may have a cause of action, or a legal basis for filing a slip and fall accident claim, if you were recently injured in a fall that occurred another person’s property. This is true regardless of whether the fall took place outdoors, such as a fall in a parking lot or parking garage, or indoors, such as a fall in a grocery store or apartment complex.
However, in order to recover financial compensation for your injuries, you will need to use evidence to show not only that you were harmed, but that the accident was caused by the negligence, or carelessness, of another party, such as a landlord or commercial property owner. For example, you may need to show that a property hazard was not repaired in a timely fashion, or that a maintenance company claimed to perform services that were never actually rendered.
Proving negligence is a difficult task for a claimant who is unfamiliar with the law – especially when facing experienced attorneys and insurance adjusters – so it is important to be represented by a skilled and aggressive personal injury lawyer, like the slip and fall attorneys of The Reiff Law Firm. When you call for your free initial consultation, we can analyze the details of your accident to determine whether you have a claim.
Each accident must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis in order for our premises liability lawyers in Philadelphia to make this determination, so it is impossible to definitively state whether a claim exists without reviewing the circumstances of the fall. However, you may have a claim if you were injured in one of the following scenarios, which are all common in Philadelphia slip and fall cases:
- You slipped on an icy sidewalk, or fell in an icy parking lot. With every brutal winter season that strikes Pennsylvania, our ice slip and fall lawyers are contacted by injury victims who fell on slick, unsalted patches of ice, snow, or slush. While wintry conditions do not automatically create liability, it may be possible to recover compensation for a slip and fall accident on ice if a property owner fails to “act within a reasonable time after notice to remove [snow and ice] when it is in a dangerous condition,” which is the standard Pennsylvania courts established for property owners in Harmotta v. Bender (1992).
- You slipped in a puddle at a bar, restaurant, or grocery store. Businesses that prepare or sell foods and beverages are especially prone to spills and leaks that can cause dangerous slicks or puddles. If the spill caused an unreasonably unsafe condition for shoppers or diners, and was not cleaned within a reasonable period of time, a resulting injury could give rise to a claim.
- You slipped on a surface that you didn’t know was dangerous, because a business failed to use warning signs. When a surface is slippery, such as a freshly waxed floor in a mall or department store, the owner is generally responsible for marking the danger with appropriate signage. A “failure to warn” could give rise to liability.
- You fell because of other property hazards or structural damage. A wet or waxed floor isn’t always the cause of a slip and fall accident. Other property defects, such as inadequate lighting, broken or rotten flooring materials, broken or unsecured support railings, or even poorly installed carpeting, can also lead to preventable accidents in the absence of proper maintenance and repair.
Philadelphia, PA Slip and Fall Accident Lawyers Can Fight for Compensation
If any of the scenarios listed above seem to apply to you or a family member, or if you have any questions about your legal options in a different type of accident scenario, we encourage you to contact our law offices for a free consultation. Our Philadelphia personal injury lawyers handle a wide array of slip and fall lawsuits throughout Pennsylvania, including cases involving bone fractures, hand and wrist injuries, foot and ankle injuries, head and brain injuries, back and spinal cord injuries, facial injuries, dislocated joints, and aggravation of existing injuries. To set up a free legal consultation involving a slip and fall accident in the Philadelphia region or other areas of Pennsylvania, contact us online, or call (215) 709-6940.